Inspector General finds misuse of state resources, conflict of interest

Another day, another corrupt politician. Ohio's Inspector General released a report today stating that Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner was found to be in a conflict of interest when he testified to a legislative committee in favor of increased educator testing.

Heffner had secured a position at Educational Testing Service (ETS) prior to the testimony. ETS is a Texas-based company that provides testing services to schools. The report found the bill Heffner testified for "ultimately did benefit" ETS.

In other words, Heffner, as the head of the Department of Education, testified in front of the Ohio legislature to secure a deal that benefited a company he was working for.

As if that wasn't enough, the investigation also found that Heffner was using state resources to negotiate his employment with ETS. According to the report, Heffner told John Oswald, vice president of K-12 Assessment Solutions for ETS, to contact him through his office email and state-issued cell phone.

So not only did Heffner testify in the Ohio legislature to benefit ETS, he also used taxpayer resources for employment negotiations with ETS.

The offices of Gov. John Kasich did not seem pleased with the development.

“He is doing a very good job as superintendent, but using official resources the way he did and demonstrating that kind of bad judgment is unacceptable," says Rob Nichols, spokesperson for Kasich. "The governor is confident that the State Board of Education understands that and will take the right steps.”

Debe Terhar, president of the State Board of Education of Ohio, released a statement in reaction to the investigation.

“I appreciate the Inspector General’s thorough report and am disturbed by its findings," Tehrar said. "State Superintendent Stan Heffner is a dedicated educator who is committed to the education reforms Ohio needs for our children, but in this matter he demonstrated a woeful lack of judgment."

In a different statement, Heffner apologized for his "lack of judgment."

The State Board of Education will discuss the results of the investigation in its scheduled Sept. 10 and 11 meetings.

School administrators already accused of misspending hundreds of thousands of dollars

A state audit found more evidence of misused public funds at
Greater Cincinnati’s largest charter school, including one example of salary overpayment and a range of inappropriate purchases of meals and entertainment. The school’s former
superintendent and treasurer are already facing trial on charges of theft for
previously discovered incidents.

The audit
reviewed Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy’s (CCPA) records for
fiscal year 2010, finding Stephanie Millard, the school’s former
treasurer, was overpaid by $8,307. At the same time, founder and
ex-superintendent Lisa Hamm used the school credit card for $8,495 in
payments to the Cincinnati Bengals, Benihana Japanese Steakhouse, Wahoo
Zip Lines, Omaha Steaks and Dixie Stampede.

“These two officials saw no boundaries in how they used
taxpayer dollars,” State Auditor Dave Yost said in a statement. “With
each audit, we find more of the same: total disregard for the trust
placed in them.”

CCPA responded to the audit by stating it has terminated
the credit card and replaced it with two debit cards, which supposedly
have controls in place to require approval and keep track of who’s using
the cards and for what.

The school is also reviewing contracts for the next school
year to ensure no further overpayments are made, on top of requiring
payments be board-approved.

In March, the school fired Hamm and Millard, and the two
former school officials were indicted on 26 counts of theft in office. Their attorney, Mike Allen, claims the school board approved the spending, which could mean the women didn’t break any laws.

In June, another special audit
found CCPA had inappropriately spent $520,000 for various unnecessary
expenditures, including bonuses, Christmas gifts, Nutrisystem weight
loss products and Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber concerts.

CCPA enrolls nearly 1,200 students for kindergarten
through 12th grade, with more than 95 percent coming from low-income
households, according to Ohio’s school report card data. The Ohio
Department of Education gave the school’s K-12 building in the West End a
“D” and its K-6 building in Madisonville a “B” for the 2011-2012 school
year.

The school is set to receive roughly $6 million in state
dollars in 2014, up 3 percent from the year before. That follows the
funding trend for Ohio’s charter schools, which are generally receiving
more state money in the recently approved two-year state budget.

Kasich mandate to affect 10 percent of Ohio public schools, cost $2.1 million

Gov. John Kasich’s budget plan called for several large
reforms to fill an $8 billion hole in the state budget, but it appears teachers
are facing the brunt of Kasich’s larger changes. Aside from cutting funding
statewide for K-12 education, the plan mandates a reform not seen by educators
in any other state: required licensing tests for already-employed teachers at
schools ranking in the lowest 10 percentiles of Performance Index (PI) score
come September.

The PI of a given school is measured by its students’
achievement and Ohio General Test (OGT) test performance for grades 3 through 10. Schools with the lowest PIs (the scale ranks from 0-120) are designated on
“Academic Watch” or “Academic Emergency,” which suggests that an overall
student population is not meeting the state’s performance expectations. Core subjects examined include reading,
English language arts, math, science, government, economics, history, fine arts,
foreign language and geography. The next state report cards to monitor PI will
be released in August. Find old report cards here.

Kasich says that re-testing teachers is a way to hold
them more accountable for their performance and help school administrators
highlight ineffective teachers for removal. Those who oppose the reform say
Kasich is placing too much weight on the teachers, when other factors in
performance include community, family life and the students themselves.

PACE High School, a charter school focused on dropout recovery in Bond Hill, is
one of several Cincinnati schools ranking in that bottom 10 percent,
meaning it will fall under Kasich’s mandate. PACE achieved a 20.9 percent graduation
rate during that 2009-10 school year, which nearly doubled since 2007-08
year, when rates sunk to 10.9 percent. Still, every teacher at PACE will face re-licensing.

“If this testing is supposed to somehow automatically make
our schools better, I don’t get that,” says Steven Hawley, Executive Director
at PACE. "I know what it is politically — to look good. They think there must be some reason why these kids can't succeed."

Historically, Hawley says, schools with student populations of higher socioeconomic statuses and different demographics rank higher. And he has a point — schools with high performance index rates around Cincinnati include Mariemont City Schools, Indian Hill Exempted Village and Lakota Schools.

The Ohio Department of Education's State Report Card system compiles data from every school in a given district to create a district report card. PACE's Performance Index score in in 2010-11 school year was at 40.4. Cincinnati Public Schools earned an 87.3. Hawley insists PACE is full of wonderful kids, but that they're extraordinarily needy. Students come to PACE years behind schedule, he says.

“Gov. Kasich is all about the ‘American dream,’ ” Hawley says.
“Most of our kids don’t even know what the American dream is."

“There’s very little opportunity for people to have
meaningful dialogue to talk about why [schools like PACE] aren’t succeeding. ... I’d
invite the governor to live in the inner city. If we’re all going to be
measured the same, we’re all going to live the same,” Hawley says.

It’s still unclear whether the
state of Ohio would pay for the tests or have districts and charter schools
fund the testing, but the Ohio Education Association Teachers’ Union expects the
tests to cost around $2.1 million to administer to about 6,000 teachers across
the state.

Terhar compared Obama's gun control proposals to Hitler quote

Democrats are calling for the resignation of Ohio State Board of Education President Debe Terhar, who compared President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler in a Facebook post.

The Columbus DispatchreportedTerhar
posted an image of Adolf Hitler on her personal Facebook page that read, “Never forget
what this tyrant said: ‘To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.’
— Adolf Hitler.”

Terhar, a Cincinnati Republican, insists she
was not comparing Obama to Hitler.She told The Dispatch that people who know her understand she was describing the “need to step back and think about it and look at history.”

When looking at history, there is no evidence Hitler actually said the quote in question. The Nazi leader referenced disarming the “subject races,” according to Hitler's Table Talk, but the direct quote Terhar posted is unverifiable.

“I’m not comparing the president to Adolf Hitler,” Terhar said.“It’s the
thought of disarming citizens, and this has happened throughout history.
What’s the true intention of the Second Amendment? It was to protect us
from a tyrannical government, God forbid.”

Terhar’s stance could have an impact on school policies. She told The Dispatch,
“Schools are gun-free zones. If you have someone who is bent on causing
harm, where are they going to go? To a place where there is little
chance of resistance.”

But when looking at different countries
and states, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center found a
correlation between more guns and more homicides. More specifically, men
and women in places with more firearms are at a larger risk for
gun-related homicide.

Terhar was elected Jan. 14 by the 19-member Ohio State Board of Education to serve as president.

Compares his policies to Clinton; Romney to Bush

Just two days before the general election, President Barack Obama
made his case to 13,500 people packed into the University of Cincinnati’s Fifth
Third Arena and 2,000 in an overflow room.

Obama cast the race in comparisons to the previous two
presidents, comparing his policies with those of Bill Clinton and equating Republican
challenger Mitt Romney’s plans with those of George W. Bush.

“So stay with me then,” Obama said. “We’ve got ideas that work,
and we’ve got ideas that don’t work, so the choice should be pretty clear.”

With less than 48 hours before polls open on Election Day,
a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll had Obama and his Republican challenger locked
in a statistical dead heat. However the same poll showed Obama with a slight
edge in Ohio, up 48 percent to Romney’s 44 percent.

Obama touted his first-term accomplishments, including ending the
war in Iraq; ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the policy preventing homosexuals
from serving openly in the military; and overhauling the country’s health care
system.

“It’s not just about policy, it’s about trust. Who do you trust?”
the president asked, flanked by a sea of supporters waving blue “Forward”
signs.

“Look, Ohio, you know me by now. You may not agree with every
decision I’ve made, Michelle doesn’t always agree with me. You may be
frustrated with the pace of change … but I say what I mean and I mean what I
say.”

Nonpartisan political fact-checker PolitiFact on Nov. 3 took a
look at Obama’s record on keeping his campaign promises from 2008. The group rated
38 percent as Kept, 16 percent Compromised and 17 percent Broken.

Twice during his speech the president was interrupted by audience
members shouting from the stands.

The first was a man on the balcony level of the arena
interrupted, shouting anti-abortion slogans and waving a sign showing mutilated
fetuses before being dragged out by about five law enforcement officers. Both were
drowned out by supporters.

Music legend Stevie Wonder opened the rally for Obama, playing a
number of his hits, opening up “Superstition” with a refrain of “on the right
track, can’t go back.”

Wonder discussed abortion policy between songs and urged Ohioans
who had not already voted to do so either early on Monday or Election Day.

So far, 28 percent of Ohio voters have already cast their
ballots. CNN reports that those votes favor Obama 63/35, according to public
polling.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Romney campaigned before an estimated crowd
of 25,000 in Pennsylvania, according to the Secret Service.

Political rallies always draw a number of the loyal opposition,
and this late-evening appearance was no different. Only five people protested
near the line to the arena, but what they lacked in number they attempted to
make up for in message.

One large sign read “Obama: 666” and another “Obama is the Beast,”
alluding to a character in the Christian Biblical book of Revelation.

A man who only identified himself as Brooks carried a large
anti-abortion sign that showed pieces of a dismembered fetus.

“I’m here to stand up for the innocent blood that has been shed
in this land to the tune of 56 million,” Brooks said. He said he was opposed to
the politics of both major party presidential candidates.

“I pray for Barack Obama because his beliefs are of the
Antichrist, just like Romney,” Brooks said.

Brooks said his message for those in line was for them to vote
for Jesus — not on the ballot, but through their actions and through candidates
that espoused Christian beliefs.

“Obama is not going to change things, Romney is not going to
change things,” Brooks said. “In the last days there are many Christs, but not
the Christ of the Bible. The Christ of the Bible is not for killing children,
is not for homosexual marriage.”

A
pro-gun group called the Buckeye Firearms Foundation says it plans to
send 24 school teachers through a training program to avoid mass
murders in Ohio schools, which it called “victim zones.” The
organization, which has been holding classes for cops and civilians
in rural Adams County near Cincinnati for about 15 years, calls the
program the Armed Teacher Training Program. So far, there is no word
about how many teachers have applied, but the firearms group says it
has been flooded with applications.

This
move by the in-state gun lobby — which appears to be trying to
capitalize off a tragedy linked to another slaughter — echoes the
National Rifle Association's call for arming teachers after the
tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It seems designed to push
back against efforts to control access to assault rifles and plays
off fears that teachers can save students by shooting it out with bad
guys. In online photos at the Adams County site, there are
people with military style guns, all apparently engaged in legal
activities on private property.

The
three-day shooting course for teachers in Ohio is supposed to cost
$1,000, and the firearms association says it will pick up the tab for
the educators it accepts into the class. That means it's putting its
money where its munitions are — it is serious about training but
does not offer to arm the teachers or buy them guns and bullets. It
says it will keep the names of the teachers secret if they ask for
confidentiality. The instructors are supposed to include
“professional law enforcement personnel” who have faced active
shooter situations:

“We
believe that while there are many things we can do to help avoid mass
murders at schools, it is imperative we allow teachers and
administrators to respond quickly and effectively. That means having
at least a few armed personnel on the scene so schools are no longer
‘victim zones.' We have resolved to create a curriculum for a
standardized Armed Teach Training Program which can be adopted around
the county.”

More information about the Tactical Defense Institute can be found here. The questionnaire to apply for the Armed Teacher
Training Program can be found here.

New funding plan surprisingly progressive but expands vouchers

Speaking in front of Ohio school administrators Thursday,
Gov. John Kasich unveiled a surprisingly progressive-sounding education reform plan that seeks to diminish school funding inequality, but it also expands
Ohio’s flawed voucher program.

Kasich said the plan will not cut any school district’s
funding, but it will work to reduce gaps between the wealthy and
poor. Currently, the poorest school district can get $700 to $800 per pupil for 20 mills of property taxes, while the wealthiest districts
can get as much as $14,000 per pupil. The plan will eliminate much of that gap,
according to Kasich.

Kasich’s plan will open up extra funding for students with
severe disabilities and students who need to learn English, on top of a
$300 million “innovation
fund” that will reward schools with grants for initiatives that improve
learning and teaching.

The plan will also expand the state’s voucher program to
provide private school tuition for any family below 200 percent of
the federal poverty level — about $46,000 for a family of four. The
vouchers, which will become available in the fall, will be worth up to
$4,250 a year. Parents will be allowed to choose between participating
voucher schools.

Kasich justified his proposals by claiming, “The Lord is
watching us as we make an effort to give our children the knowledge that
they want in order to be successful and to pursue their God-given
destinies.”

He also said the program is fully funded, which was made possible by extra revenue gained from Ohio’s economic rebound.

On judging his proposals, Kasich said, “We need to think about this not in isolation. We need to think about this over the course of the last couple
years.”

Taking the governor at his request, his administration actually signed off on education cuts in
the past couple years. Cuts Hurt Ohio, a website that tracks budget cuts
enacted by Kasich, shows funding to education was cut statewide by $1.8 billion. For Hamilton County, $117 million in
education funding was cut.

Kasich also helped push a few education initiatives
through the Ohio legislature. During the press conference, he cited
his Third-Grade Reading Guarantee, which forces schools to hold back
students who aren’t “proficient” in reading. Kasich also pointed to the
new school report cards, which use an A-to-F grading system to give more
transparency to parents and enforce higher standards for schools.

The plan will require approval from the Ohio legislature to become law. It also may face scrutiny from courts; the Ohio Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled the state's school funding system relies too much on local property taxes.

Federal court orders district to pay $20,000 in damages and costs for banning teen's shirt

A federal court judge in Cincinnati ruled Monday that gay Ohio student Maverick Couch will be permitted to wear his "Jesus Is Not A Homophobe" T-shirt to school whenever he pleases.

Wayne Local School District, the district in which Couch attends high school, will also be required to pay Couch $20,000 in damages and court costs, according to Judge Michael Barrett's ruling.

Couch was first prevented from wearing the T-shirt in April 2011, when he showed up to school in the shirt during a "Day of Silence," meant to raise awareness of cases in which gay students are victims of bullying. Waynesville High School Principal Randy Gebhardt allegedly told Couch that he needed to either wear the T-shirt inside out or remove it, stating that the "T-shirt had to do with religion, religion and state have to be separate," and the T-shirt was "disrupting the educational process." Couch complied, and was asked to remove the shirt when he wore it to school a second time. Principal Gebhardt threatened to suspend Couch if the shirt was worn again.

Couch and Lambda Legal Defense, a legal organization focused on protecting the rights of the LGBTQ community, brought forth a lawsuit against Wayne Local School District on April 3, 2012, alleging that Couch's first amendment rights had been egregiously violated in barring him from wearing the shirt. Only a day after the lawsuit was filed, administrators at Waynesville High School told Couch he'd be allowed to wear the T-shirt annually on one day exclusively: "Day of Silence," which took place April 20.

"I just wanted to wear my shirt. The shirt is a statement
of pride, and I hope other students like me know that they can be proud,
too," said Couch, according to lamdalegal.org.

When Lambda Legal sent a letter inquiring about Couch's First Amendment rights to the school district, this was the district's response: "the message communicated by the student's T-shirt was sexual in nature and therefore indecent and inappropriate in the school." For information about LGBTQ students' rights in schools, click here.

Job will take him out of state often

A Democrat who was challenging Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann in this fall’s election has left the race due to work commitments.

Greg Harris, a West Sider who is a former Cincinnati city councilman, said Monday night that a contract awarded to his educational consulting firm means he will be spending a large amount of time outside of the region. Harris’ firm, New Governance Group, recently was awarded a major contract with a nonprofit group in Delaware that seeks to improve public education in that state.

“When I filed (to run for commissioner), I filed in all sincerity,” Harris said. “It was before I got this contract.”

He added, “I feel bad. This was a race I really wanted to run in, but with all the traveling, I’m not equipped to give it the time it deserves.”

Harris, 40, announced his candidacy in early December, when he filed paperwork to run against Hartmann, a Republican incumbent who is seeking his second term.

The Hamilton County Democratic Party now will be able to select a replacement for Harris on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Harris was appointed in January 2009 to Cincinnati City Council to fill the unexpired term of John Cranley, who was facing term limits. But Harris lost in an election that November, finishing 10th in balloting for the nine-member group, missing the final spot by about 3,400 votes. During his brief term, Harris angered the city’s police and firefighter unions by suggesting changes that he said would improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Through his consulting firm, Harris had served as public policy advisor for Cincinnati-based KnowledgeWorks Foundation, a national education philanthropy that seeds educational practices and policy reforms.

An Illinois native, Harris moved to the region in 1993 to attend graduate school at Miami University in Oxford. He stayed here after graduation and served from 2000-05 as executive director of Citizens for Civic Renewal, a nonprofit public advocacy group that promotes good government, volunteerism and civic involvement.

Harris ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Westwood) twice, in 2002 and 2004. He also was prepared to challenge Hartmann for the Hamilton County Commission seat in 2008 until Democratic Party leaders cut a deal with the GOP and asked Harris to step aside and let Hartmann run unopposed. A reluctant Harris complied.

State funding will continue to be reduced despite $771 million in lottery profits

Ohio schools expecting more funding from record lottery profits may want to hold off.

Last week, it was reported that the Ohio Department of Education had hit
the jackpot with a record $771 million in lottery profits. By state
law, lottery profits are supposed to go to the Lottery Profits Education
Fund, which funds schools in Ohio. At first, it seemed like a great
opportunity to increase education funding.

Maybe not. In a joint statement this morning, the Ohio School Boards
Association, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators and the
Ohio Association of School Business Officials explained the money does
not mean more money for schools.

“While it is true that all Ohio Lottery profits are used by the state to
fund education, the profit from increased sales was simply used to free
up other state funds that had previously been set aside for schools,
allowing more money to be transferred into the state’s rainy day fund,”
OSBA Executive Director Richard Lewis said in the statement.

Despite the lottery profits, funding for Ohio’s school foundation
payment program remains at $7.2 billion — exactly as established by Gov.
John Kasich’s 2011 budget plan.

In other words, no gain for schools, but some gain for the state’s rainy day fund.

The news comes as a bit of a buzz-kill to schools that are already
feeling cuts from the two-year state budget plan passed by the
Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Kasich.

For the 2012 fiscal year, Kasich’s budget cut funding to the Department
of Education down to $10.3 billion, a 4.9 percent reduction from the
year before, largely due to the loss of federal stimulus dollars. But
another 4.9 percent cut is planned for the 2013 fiscal year, lowering
funding to $9.8 billion, which is even lower than the amount of funding
the Department of Education received in 2008 and 2009 — before the state
received federal stimulus dollars.